Top Phillies Prospect Sixto Sanchez Shows what the Hype is All About in Season Debut

Ardent Phillies fans have spent the past several summers desperately checking minor league box scores in search of hope that players like Rhys Hoskins, Scott Kingery, Nick Williams, and J.P. Crawford were fulfilling their collective promise, a promise that would one day in the not too distant future make the big league club relevant again. While it appears that day has finally arrived, there are still plenty of good reasons to keep an eye on the organization’s minor league clubs. The best of those reasons, right-handed pitching prospect Sixto Sanchez, is almost unanimously considered the Phillies’ top prospect and one of the best arms in all of minor league baseball. He made his season debut with the Class-A Clearwater Threshers this afternoon, flashing his electric arsenal of plus-pitches while showing what the hype is all about:

This sequence from Sixto Sanchez was NASTY. 101 on the black. 100 on the black. Slide piece – 85 with crazy bite…looked like it has a parachute attached slowing it down#Philliespic.twitter.com/JpzguVStHk

While the 19-year-old lights up radar guns and generates buzz with a fastball that frequently reaches triple digits, it is his ability to pair it with a well above average slider that makes him a special talent. Here is that devastating slider on display in all of its paralyzing glory:

It wasn’t all good for Sanchez, who struggled with his fastball command and was dinged for seven hits, four earned runs, and four walks over four innings of work. While his final line wasn’t particularly impressive, the stuff and ceiling remains the headline here.

For those wondering when Sanchez will arrive in Philadelphia, it certainly will not be this season. It’s possible that he could expedite the process and force the Phillies’ hand with a 2019 debut, but given the organization’s historically tentative nature with their prospects, a 2020 call-up seems like the safer bet.

If you want to get a more realistic feel for Sanchez’s pacing, sequencing, and stuff, then here is an extended look at his debut:

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Bob Wankel covers the Phillies, breaking news, and sports gambling for Crossing Broad. He is also a producer and co-host of Crossed Up: A Phillies Podcast.
A South Jersey resident and graduate of Monmouth University, his past work includes six seasons as a freelance producer at NFL Films.
On Twitter: @BWCrossingbroad
E-mail: Bob@crossingbroad.com